by Vella Day
Harriet. He bet she knew what was going on. He dialed the police station, but no one answered. Okay, that wasn’t good.
Kane rushed out to his Jeep, jammed the engine into gear, and raced toward Savory, not caring if he broke every goddamn speed limit. He parked in the NO PARKING ZONE and marched up the steps to the police station, but when he stepped inside, the place was deserted.
Well, shit.
“I’m good.”
The farmer eased Sky out of the car. “You sure? You don’t look so good.”
She wasn’t going to complain about a little neck injury. “How are the animals?”
“They’re scared, but okay.” The cows were standing on the side of the road watching her.
The metal trailer seemed to have protected them, but the impact must have broken the lock allowing the animals to escape.
“That’s good. I need to get to the airport. I have a plane to catch. Let me see if I can drive my car.” Thankfully, the engine sat in back. She turned the key and the engine fired up. For once, something seemed to be going her way. Sky waved, but as she edged forward, the grill scraped against the tire. Damn. She wouldn’t be able to drive it like this.
Slumping against her seat, she blew out a breath.
The farmer tapped on her window. “I can give you a lift once I round up my animals.”
Other than her plane crashing on the way to West Virginia, the day couldn’t get any worse. At least this wasn’t the government’s doing. “Thanks.” She got out and checked the damage. “I’m hoping my mechanic can fix it.”
“I’m sure of it. You want to call him? How about I push your car to the side of the road and then drive you to Page?”
That was so sweet of him, but in all honesty, her hair must be a sight and she smelled of perspiration from the trauma. She needed to head on home and fly out later. Hell, she hadn’t even called Jessie to see if the timing worked for her.
“Can I borrow your phone? I’d like to call the mechanic.”
“Here ya go. Take your time. I need to gather my animals.”
“Thanks.” She called Richie at Morton’s garage, knowing he’d give her grief.
While the farmer coaxed his animals back into the trailer, she slid into the passenger side of the VW and closed her eyes. She ached—ached for Kane and ached for what could have been. She probably shouldn’t have run away without talking to him. It was one of her many flaws. She sucked at confrontation, but what could he say? He didn’t believe things could work out between them anyway.
Forty-five minutes later, Richie pulled up and whistled. “Man, girl. You sure are hard on your cars. You should marry Ole man Jespers.” He owned the used car lot.
“Funny. Just tow the car, please.”
He saluted. She waited by the side of the road, and while he put her car up on the back of his truck, she exchanged her insurance card and information with the farmer.
“I’ll drop you back home on my way to town,” Richie said.
Home. She wasn’t ready to face Kane, but maybe he was still out doing his errands. If there was any luck in the world, he hadn’t read her note. If he had, she didn’t know if he would be furious or happy that she would be out of his hair for good.
“Can you drive me to Jespers instead? I’ll need a loaner.”
“The cruiser’s nearly fixed. You want that?”
She laughed. “I couldn’t afford the repair bill if anyone else ran me off the road.” Besides, she wasn’t technically with the department.
“You got it.”
Once she picked up a loaner, she decided she deserved an Area 51 coffee from EBE’s before going home. Not only that, she needed to see some friendly faces. She parked in front, checked the mirror, and gasped. Her forehead and cheek were black and blue. The seatbelt had cut into her shoulder, and a few flecks of blood had seeped through her shirt. The crowd might stare, but at this point, she didn’t care.
As she walked in, she didn’t look around as she headed to the side of the café where she always sat. Chair legs scraped, and she looked up.
Oh, shit. Her dad was sitting with Kane. Both faced her. Kane’s eyes widened, but her dad’s brows were pinched. She straightened, winced, and then slouched again. Taking a full breath, she marched up to their table and faced Kane. It didn’t matter that the note said it all. “I can explain.”
The entire café seemed to come to a screeching halt. Blood pounded in her ears as sweat pooled under her arms. She was about to bear her soul in front of the entire town—a town that used to care about her. A strong chance existed that after her confession, they wouldn’t. Kane pushed back his chair and stood, but she held up her hand.
“I take it you read the note?” He nodded. “Let me tell you why I really left.” She sucked in a big breath, hoping for the courage to tell him.
Before she was able to say she loved him and that she’d made a big mistake, someone slammed open the café door, and both Kane and her dad faced the newcomer. She turned too. It was the Chief. Really? He was the last person she wanted to see. Now, it might have been better to be on some crashing plane.
The Chief looked straight at her. “Thank God, I found you. Harriet’s missing.”
Chapter 25
Panic ripping through her veins, Sky, Kane, her dad, and the Chief quickly returned to the station to regroup. Harvey and Elmer joined them as they sat in a circle to come up with a plan to find their beloved Harriet. Sky shoved her confession as to why she’d run off, to the back burner for the moment. Finding Harriet was all that mattered now.
Kane kept looking over at her, sympathy in his eyes, but he must have understood that now wasn’t the time to talk. Dixie, Harriet’s sister, wanted to be in on the discussion, insisting they call in the FBI, but the Chief and her dad told her they would do everything they could to find her sister.
“Ms. Dixie,” Sky said. “It would be best if you went home and waited for any word from Harriet. We’re doing our best to locate her. I promise we’ll let you know if we discover anything.”
When she hesitated, Kane moved in front of her and took hold of Dixie’s hand. “You know how you can really help us?”
“How?” she sniffled.
“Keep the coffee coming. You make the best stuff at the diner.”
Her eyes sparkled. “If you’re sure it’ll help, Mr. Kane, I’ll do it.”
The man seemed to be able to sway every female around. Dixie hurried back to the cafe to do his bidding.
“I know I’m on suspension, but I want to help too,” she said.
“Thank you,” the Chief replied.
As if Kane was in charge, he made eye contact with each person in the circle. “No holds barred. Everyone with me?”
In unison, they chanted, “Yes.”
After they batted around what they were going to do and when, Kane asked that they go through the facts one more time to make sure they hadn’t missed anything. “Chief, you start.”
“Last I remember, Harriet was dishing up a batch of her fresh chocolate chip cookies right here in the office and left work at her usual time, happy and helpful like always.”
Harvey piped up. “Dot said she saw Harriet at EBE’s around five thirty, grabbing her usual chicken salad sandwich and then poof, she vanished.”
Kane leaned forward, his hands dangling over his knees. “Poof?”
Harvey nodded. “Apparently, Harriet paid and left, but forgot her glasses on the table. When Dot went out to return them, Harriet was gone. Poof. Couldn’t have been more than ten seconds, she said.”
“Okay, poof it is.”
The Chief spoke up again. “Maybe we should wait to see if they return her, like they did Sky and Dan Joe.”
“It’s Harriet,” Sky said. “She’s no spring chicken. She’ll be scared. We need to help her now.”
The Chief nodded. “You’re right.”
Elmer held up his hand, as if he still thought he was in school. “I’m not sure they will return her,
like they did with Sky. They know we know about them now. Maybe they’re trying to lure us, and once we get inside the Base, they’ll show us there is nothing in there but military stuff—no aliens and no hostages.”
She didn’t buy it. “If that’s true, we need to strike before they bail and hide any evidence.”
They went through their options. In the end, they chose the “Wookie Gambit” trick, the device used in the Star Wars movie, in which Sky would pose as a prisoner, and Kane would be a sentry and escort her back in. Sky wasn’t sure it would work, but with Kane at her side, they might have a chance.
Kane finally spoke directly to her. “Sky, I need you to see if Dr. Williams will agree to our plan.”
“I’m on it.”
The Chief puffed out his chest. “Harvey, how about we do a little reconnaissance?”
Harvey looked like he’d been asked to wear a purple tutu and dance around town. “Of what?”
“The military Base, you idiot.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Harvey sounded scared.
“It can be.”
“Take some night vision goggles,” Kane said.
The chief’s chin sunk. “You got some?”
“In my Jeep.” Kane slapped his thighs and stood. “If you find out anything, Chief, let us know.”
They all agreed that when Sky reached Dr. Williams in Page, they would reconvene in the morning, as they needed Dr. Williams’s assistance before undertaking the operation. As they walked out, Kane suggested they drive to Page tonight.
“The morgue closed at five.” It was after that now.
“He might open up shop once he knows this is a matter of national security.”
Kane had a point. “Doc Williams might believe us more if the General called him.”
Kane pulled open the door for her, something she’d come to expect. “You’re good, I’ll hand that to you.” She thought she caught a wink.
She stopped. “Wait. I almost forgot. I have my car, or rather my loaner here. I’d rather not leave it on the street. Why don’t I meet you at the house and you can call your friend?”
He stood over her and looked down. “What happened to your car? I saw the bruises and the spot of blood on your shoulder at the restaurant but then the Chief rushed in and everything went crazy.” His shoulders slumped. “Don’t tell me you totaled the VW too.”
Sky looked to the side and shuffled her feet. “Um, I was in a bit of an accident.”
She went into a shortened version of how a farmer pulled out in front of her on the way to the airport.
His chest seemed to cave. “You didn’t end up leaving. Was it because you had a change of heart or because you wrecked your car and couldn’t get a ride to the airport?” His mouth firmed.
Now wasn’t the time to go into detail, but she wanted to come clean. “I changed my mind. The farmer offered me a ride to Page, but I was too beat up and looked a mess.” From the way his eyes darkened, she might have made things worse.
“Oh.”
Now why hadn’t she told him the truth? Chicken, chicken, chicken. She could have sworn Harriet was right behind her, whispering in her ear.
“In light of your third wrecked car in as many weeks, I don’t think you should be behind the wheel,” Kane said.
“That’s not fair. The last accident wasn’t my fault.”
His brows rose. “I’m sure. How about you ask Elmer to have the rental place pick up the car?”
Sometimes, Kane could be the most infuriating man in the world. “Fine.”
They headed back inside the station and gave Elmer the rental car key. He seemed happy to have something useful to do and was out before she had a chance to snap her seatbelt or figure out why her stomach was in turmoil.
Once they arrived at her house, she wanted to lock herself in the bathroom and never come out, but she was hungry and didn’t want Kane to think she was some psycho case. Sky walked out in the cleanest pair of jeans she could find and a fresh top. She still looked like hell, but at least she didn’t have bloodstains on her anymore.
Kane glanced up at her, his cell phone to his ear. She could have sworn his eyes sparkled when he noticed her. “Thank you, sir. I’ll keep you in the loop.” Kane pocketed his phone. “All set. You have the swipe card, right?” He was very matter of fact. She could handle him acting all military. It was the sweet, kind man she could do without right now.
“Yes. The Chief reluctantly let me have it, and then said he was sorry he had accused me of taking evidence without permission.”
“I’m glad he noted the error of his ways. Let’s go.”
Sky wanted to talk about the note and why she’d left, but it wouldn’t do to distract Kane now. There’d be time later. Besides, she wasn’t in the mood to listen to his excuses about why he wasn’t interested. Because it was better to let it go, they discussed their plan to free Harriet.
Dr. Williams was waiting outside the morgue when they pulled up, and from the way he shifted from foot to foot, he wasn’t anxious to help, but a command from a top military official was probably hard to turn down.
“Sky. Mr. Cornell.” Williams unlocked the door. “You’ll have to tell me which finger you want.” From the way his voice was high, he wasn’t pleased to be doing this.
Putting him in this bad position almost made her sick, but they needed to get into the military base.
“Index,” she and Kane said in unison.
“You do know this is illegal.” The doc’s lips pinched, and his cheeks were paler than usual.
“The military needs this.”
He nodded and Sky cringed. She was already one step from losing her badge, and could only hope that what they were about to do was never found out. It didn’t matter someone in the military had sanctioned it.
In silence, they followed the doctor to his room. After the morgue door closed, the air was heavy and filled with a sickly sweet odor of death. He pulled out the drawer containing Randall Tyler. “A cousin came forward to claim the body, but I wasn’t sure if I should release him. I was waiting for you to get back to me.”
The doc was a saint. “Thank you.”
“This will take a minute.”
Sky didn’t want to watch him cut off the man’s index finger. It shouldn’t matter the guy was dead and didn’t have a head; it was still dismemberment to her. The sawing noise grated on her nerves, but from Kane’s calm expression, he didn’t seem to mind. Good thing he’d be the one wearing the dead man’s finger and not her.
The drive back to her place involved Kane rehashing the details of what was going to happen when they attempted to find Harriet. The whole time, her stomach remained in knots. To keep from fidgeting too much, she played with her straggly hair.
Tell him.
She couldn’t—not yet. As soon as they rescued Harriet, Sky would tell Kane how much he meant to her, since holding out on Kane was eating her alive.
Once home, he ordered her to sit in the kitchen while he found a pen and paper. It was after ten p.m., and while she wanted nothing more than to crash, Kane insisted on drawing a few diagrams. She understood full well the need to be on the same page, but come on. It wasn’t rocket science to have him drag her to the entryway and claim one of their prisoners had gotten loose.
Mr. Morris, Mr. whistleblower himself, had detailed what the area looked like and how to get to the lower levels. His intel would be invaluable.
“It’s 22:25. Let’s go.”
Her stomach tumbled, her nerves raw. “You said we’d go tomorrow night. We’re supposed to meet up with everyone tomorrow morning, remember?”
“I wanted them to think that.”
Her heart hammered in her chest. “So you don’t trust them either?”
“No.”
“Who do you think is the traitor?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Me, neither. I trust Elmer and that’s about it.”
“Ready? You can say no if you want.”
As brave as she’d been throughout her career, right now, she wasn’t so sure she was emotionally ready to break into a military base and risk it all. She could end up in the prison underground forever. “We don’t even know they’re holding Harriet prisoner there.”
He stepped so close she could feel his breath on her face. “Are you saying you don’t want to do this? Because if you don’t, we won’t go in.”
He was giving her the option to say no, but Kane needed her, and so did Harriet. “No. I’m in.”
“Good. Remember the whistleblower said prisoners escaped periodically but were always caught. The numbering system he gave us might not be exact, but it should allow us to gain access. We won’t have a lot of time to find her, so you do understand we can’t search every room or every level?”
“Yes. Men will be patrolling and checking everywhere.” She made sure her phone, with its camera, was charged, and then inhaled deeply. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Then let’s put on our costumes.”
She hurried as fast as she could, carefully applying the makeup. A few minutes later, she stepped into the living room where Kane was dressed in fatigues, like the kind the guards wore.
He tapped her nose. “You look cute.”
Where had that cheer come from? She gave him a defiant stance. “My hair is all ratted, I have brown streaks all over my face, and I’m wearing horribly tattered clothes. I can’t possibly look cute with fake blood on my cheek and arm. At least the purple bruises are real. It saved me makeup time.”
He seemed to be fighting a smile. “It’s mission time.”
Without saying another word, she followed him to the Jeep. He went over the details one more time as they headed to their lot a mile from the base. They parked there because it had to look like she’d escaped.
It was chilly, so they jogged to keep warm. A coat would only prove she hadn’t escaped from the DUMB. As they drew near, he pulled up. “I need to put the cuffs on you.” His tone implied he didn’t relish the idea.
She nodded. This was the uncomfortable part, and the memory of her boss slapping them on her wrists returned. Kane issued some orders loudly, and in less than thirty seconds, four men with guns arrived. Her pulse was racing so fast, she didn’t need to fake the fear.